Storm Clouds
The SToRM_CLoUDS_ Chronicle An Artist in Disguise SToRM_CLoUDS_ was a new popular artist on the now deleted Disney Create website. He used to have a total of 966 fans and 17,005 stars. On April 24, 2016, nearly two years after the website's shutdown, an ex-Disney Create artist stepped forward. Fifteen year-old Reno_Ringo left a comment under SToRM_CLoUDS_ 's Disney Create Wiki. She admitted that she had been pretending to be a boy going by the screen name 'SToRM_CLoUDS_' because of how unforgiving the grind was when it came to gaining more followers. Reno_Ringo expressed her discontent, stating that she "was fed up" and "wanted to have a lot of fans and be a popular artist"(2016). Operation: SToRM_CLoUDS_ Eleven year-old Reno_Ringo executed her plan when she created another account posing as a pale, grey-eyed, dark-blue-haired boy as a sort of social experiment to see if she could quickly gain a following. Reno was amazed, saying that "soon enough... BAM! I was gaining a lot of fans!"(2016). Ringo returns as an eighteen year-old to explain how to this day, she is still taken aback by SToRM_CLoUDS_'s rapid popularity in such a short period of time. She edited this wiki to report on her thoughts and collected info on the personal and fake accounts' fan growth. Ringo jokes, "I'm here to just officially tell the iconic and historical story of how twelve year-old me basically cat-fished other kids on Disney Create"(2019). The Declassified Report Reno_Ringo recalls creating her personal account when she was ten in 2011, and it took her roughly around half a year or more to reach 188 fans on February 14, 2012. So, during the time that Reno was eleven and/or twelve, she was curious to see if she could fabricate an authentic male presence that would successfully get her the recognition she wished she could have achieved on her own page. Reno guesses that the fake account was made either near the very end of 2012 or on the first month of 2013. Nevertheless, looking back on the first Wayback Machine capture, we can see that on Feburary 27, 2013, SToRM_CLOUDS_ only had nine published works of art, yet already gained 417 fans and 3,802 stars. About two months later, on April 28, 2013, 'he' now had twenty-four works along with a new total of 743 fans and 13,384 stars. January 22, 2014 was the Wayback Machine's last update of the account's webpage. Reno_Ringo confirms that these are the last twenty-seven artworks SToRM_CLoUDS_ had posted before she no longer had the time, and motivation, to continue the falsehood. The final capture shows that at that time, the account had made it to 966 fans and 17,005 stars. StormFIRST.JPG StormSECOND.JPG StormFINAL.JPG Mission Accomplished Reno also presents her own page to fully highlight the difference in growth. On February 14, 2012, she had 188 followers and 13,497 stars. Almost two years later, on January 22, 2014, the Wayback Machine's last capture shows her with 782 fans and 47,289 stars. Reno_Ringo verifies that the 700+ FANS!!! post had been her last on the site, so there couldn't have been anymore possible growth besides from what we can see in the capture... especially since Disney Create was planning to close three months later. When it comes to the significant difference of total stars in each account, "I think I ended close to triple the amount of stars more than my fake account because I had more posts and had been on the site longer. Either way, the idea was to get a quick following... and it had worked"(Ringo 2019). Reno_Ringo, in about 4 years, more or less, almost reached 800 fans in the end. Meanwhile, SToRM_CLoUDS_, in about a year, more or less, finished with nearly 1000 fans. Eighteen year-old Reno_Ringo comments, "The stats don't lie. Ladies and gentlemen... we got 'em"(2019). MeFIRST.JPG MeFINAL.JPG 'SToRM_CLoUDS_'s drawing style' Reno_Ringo had to stress that she was clearly a male on the website, so she drew SToRM_CLoUDS_ in almost every picture. Referencing the Wayback Machine, she confirms that 17 out of 27 of these posts were drawings of himself. SToRM_CLoUDS_'s account ended with a total of twenty-seven published creations. In order to get more activity on the posts, Reno made some artworks asking for how many likes, comments, and stars 'he' can get. Since SToRM_CLoUDS_ was pretty popular, either through artistic talent or through him being a boy, it seemed that many other artists on Disney Create drew him as well. SToRM CLoUDS my D-Name!CRINGE.jpg HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY !cringe.jpg So... where is Reno_Ringo now? The screen name, reno_ringo was left behind in 2014, along with Disney Create. However, her love for creating art was not forgotten after this tragedy! She's still been making art since those good old days. Shameless promotion incoming... lol If you're interested in what I'm up to nowadays, you can catch me chillin' and grinding for that art bread on instagram! I now go by the name... REAMISS! I also have a YouTube channel, but I'm not sure when I'll create my first video... Anyway, this girl's got dreams of making a living with her art and you're welcome to check out the links below to come along for the journey! (If you're interested of course. No obligations here.) ➜ https://www.instagram.com/reamiss.art/ ➜ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrS1yZhGOnF8VtHYyd2fSgw I don't know if anyone will even see this wiki update, but I knew I just had to write down the backstory behind SToRM_CLoUDS_ as a way to solidify it to myself that I truly did do this shenanigan when I was twelve! Lol! But hey, if an ex-DC user does see this... and especially if you're still making art like I am, I think it'd be nice to get to know you and reminisce about DC for a bit! As well as support each other in our artistic venture! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ My work here is done. See ya!